Max EddyBen MooreThe Best New Features in Android 9 Pie (So Far)Android 9 Pie is finally out, although many of its marquee features arrive later. Before you explore Google's latest mobile OS, check out our favorite new features.

First introduced to the developer community at Google's May I/O conference, Android Pie underwent several developer previews prior to launch. But now, after Google gathered feedback, made changes, and finalized the code, Android 9.0 is ready for the masses. Although it's not feature-complete at launch—the Digital Wellbeing tools for fighting tech addiction aren't yet in place, for example—it already looks like a fairly extensive overhaul and one that most Android users will want to try.

Of course, not all Android users will have that option right away. As with any new version of Android, fragmentation is a real issue. Google Pixel owners will get the update first, but others will likely need to wait a while or make peace with the fact that they will never get the update. Sadly, owners of the late Nexus 5X and 6P fall into the latter category.

As you count down the days to when this major over-the-air update trickles down to your phone, take a look at our roundup of the top Android Pie features. Keep in mind that this list only scratches the surface of the extensive changes coming to Android. For a much deeper dive into Google's latest mobile OS, read our hands-on evaluation of Android 9 Pie.

Indoor Location Tracking

Google Maps is perhaps the greatest gift Google has given humanity, but it relies on some technologies (GPS, cell tower triangulation) that don't work well indoors. Enter Wi-Fi Round-Trip-Time (RTT). This technology allows Android P devices to measure the distance between Wi-Fi access points (without connecting to them) and figure out your position indoors. If you're within pinging distance of at least three access points, Google says it can find your location within one or two meters.

This is great for getting around in places where GPS isn't available (on a digital tour of Mammoth Cave perhaps?) or accurate. But Google has some other suggestions for how it can be used. Figuring out who is speaking to a microphone, for example, could be a game changer for smarter, smaller voice assistants. Google also suggests the feature could be used to push location-based special offers—ads, basically—because everything has to be a little evil.

Speaking of evil, there are some limitations for when Wi-Fi RTT can find you. For starters, the access points your phone communicates with won't get your location. Also, your device needs to have its Wi-Fi radio on and location services enabled, while any app that wishes to use this technology has to request permission to use your precise location.

Save Us From the Notches

Ah, how Android users laughed when the iPhone X came out. "Such foolish Apple buyers," they chortled, clutching tumblers of port. "Only such sheeple would buy a phone with a hideous chip out of the top." Then, at Mobile World Congress 2018, they saw how many forthcoming Android devices were emulating the iPhone X notch, and wept cold, bitter tears.

Google adds support for notched screens in Android P, although to its credit, the company is limiting manufacturers to a highly reasonable two notches. Great. Fantastic. Now even more of these monstrosities with useless, power-burning pixels in the corners can be sold at ever-higher prices

Time Moves Right to Left

Time is an illusion and the position of the clock at the top of Android device screens is just as illusory. That's because, as of Android Pie, the clock will move from the right of the screen to the far left.

This isn't a fluke or a weird, obscure setting lurking in the guts of Android. Every official Android 9.0 screenshot shows the time on the left. It's also not just a notched-phone thing, since it appears in screenshots of both notched and saintly un-notched devices.

Notification Improvements

Android Oreo is all about notifications—making them smarter and more engaging, and letting you block whole types of notifications with a swipe. Android Pie ups the ante even further. Media elements, like photos and user avatars, will now appear in notifications along with text. Someday soon, you'll be able to see an unprompted and unwanted photo of someone's unmentionables and who sent it without even opening your messaging app.

More Notification Improvements

You want more notification features? Android Pie has got more notification features. When you download the update, you'll get the AI-generated auto response that first debuted in Gmail directly in the notification tray. This is a great feature for people who can't be bothered to type out a coherent response for themselves. Forget voice-to-text, swipe-typing, or even thinking about what you need to say. All you need to do is tap and trust in the machine-learning model.

Hardware and Handling Improvements

If your Android device has a dual-camera arrangement on either the front or the back, you might see it gain some new tricks in Android Pie. The latest version of the OS supports simultaneous streams from these cameras, allowing for all kinds of new effects in apps. Google says it could be used for "seamless zoom, bokeh, and stereo vision."

Security Tweaks

At PCMag, many of us get unreasonably excited every time Google rolls out some new security features for Android. The Pie edition has subtle, but still important, improvements to encryption and other under-the-hood technologies.

There are two features users will actually see. First is a unified fingerprint-authentication screen. This is a small thing, but it means you see the same screen prompting you to place a digit on the fingerprint scanner every time. That way, you know it's a legit request.

The second thing has to do with encrypted backups. When you try to access a backup of your phone, you have to enter the password, PIN, or pattern you use to unlock your phone. That's great, since it means your data will remain safe, whether it's on your phone or backed up in the cloud.

Locking Down the Background

One of the major changes in Android Oreo was to place limitations on what apps could do when running in the background. The goal, Google said, was to improve performance and battery life by restricting apps from being extremely active when they weren't in view. As privacy-conscious people, we appreciate this because we don't think apps should be doing much of anything when we are not actively using them.

In Android Pie, Google has a few more restrictions on background activities. First, apps will no longer receive event reports if they're drawing continuous information from sensors, including the accelerometers and gyroscopes. We're not certain, but it sounds like this means apps won't receive information from these sensors when the apps are in the background—we'll have to get clarification to be sure.

A more important change is that background apps will no longer be able to access the microphone or camera. That's great, since we want to know exactly what is being recorded. We're also curious to see how this will work with the ultrasonic beacons in TV ads that can be picked up by apps as part of super-gross marketing data gathering.

The Name

Now that we know Android Pie's official name, the internet can move on to speculation about the next version of Android, presumably Android Q. Your guess is as good as ours.

Every new version of Android gets a code name in alphabetical order and in honor of a dessert food of some kind. Kit-Kat, Oreos, Honeycombs, and Jelly Beans have all had their turn. We always knew that Android O was going to be Oreo. There is no universe in which this was not a dead certainty. Android P offered plenty of naming options, such as Papaya and Popsicle. Android Q, however, leaves the door wide open. Q is simply an odd and obscure letter. Make sure to leave a comment if you have any ideas or suggestions for the name of Google’s next mobile OS.

About the Author

Max Eddy is a Software Analyst, taking a critical eye to Android apps and security services. He's also PCMag's foremost authority on weather stations and digital scrapbooking software. When not polishing his tinfoil hat or plumbing the depths of the Dark Web, he can be found working to discern the 100 Best Android Apps.
Prior to PCMag, Max wrote... See Full Bio

More From Max

Ben Moore is a Junior Analyst for PCMag's software team. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Neowin.net, and Tom's Guide on everything from hardware to business acquisitions across the tech industry. Ben holds a degree in New Media and Digital Design from Fordham University at Lincoln Center, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Obse... See Full Bio

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.